Built-in validation rules

Customizing Validation Rules

When you validate a meta-model against a reference model, Model Expert applies a set of rules.

These rules can be customized:

Customization	Description	See Also
Change text	The text, as seen by the user can be customized, either by re-wording the supplied text, or translating into your national language. Do this by editing the text in the list	Validation Scripting Examples
Changing the severity	The severity of all validation rules can also be changed
Disable rule	To stop a rule from running, set the severity to zero.

Ref	Rule Explanation	Default Severity (editable)
1	Checks that the element type is in the reference model	10
6	Checks that the element stereotype is in the reference model	8
1003	Element type is in the Reference Model, but this element is not from the correct package	6

Ref	Rule Explanation	Default Severity (editable)
2	Checks that the relationship type is in the reference model	10
7	Checks that the relationship stereotype is in the reference model	8
3	Checks the multiplicity between two element types	5
4	For 1..* multiplicities, checks there is at least one element	5
5	For 0..X multiplicities, checks there are not too many related elements	5
8	Check that the Connector is in the right direction	2
81	Give the connector a direction	1
82	Element is linked to an element which is not defined in the Reference Model	1
9	Checks that elements of this type can be added to this type of diagram	4

Ref	Rule Explanation	Default Severity (editable)
9	Checks that elements of this type can be added to this type of diagram	4
12	Checks that there are enough required elements	4
3	Checks the multiplicity between two element types	5
4	For 1..* multiplicities, checks there is at least one element	5

When it checks fields in your model, Model Expert checks for two things:

Fields or Tagged Values which are required by your Reference Model, but are either not present or have default values
This indicates missing data.
Fields or Tagged Values which are in your model, but are not in your Reference Model.
This indicates that modellers are adding data which your RM thinks you don’t need. This may be true, or it may be that the extra information is useful, and your RM need extending.

Ref	Rule Explanation	Default Severity (editable)
100	Attribute is not in the reference metamodel	4
101	Element does not have a required EA field	4
102	A required EA field has a default value	1
103	Required tagged value not present	6
107	Required tagged value is blank	1
105	Element has a tagged which is not in the Reference Model	1
106	Tagged value has value not contained in allowed values	3

Diagrams which contain only instances have some special rules

Ref	Rule Explanation	Default Severity (editable)
1001	Classifier is not in this model	10
1002	Checks that the model defines a link between two instances	8
1004	Elements are linked in this model, but only by inheritance, so link is not valid	6
1005	Diagram object is an Element, not an instance of an element	6
1006	Classifier for this instance is not from a required package	6

Ref	Rule Explanation	Default Severity (editable)
1010	Lifeline is not an instance, it’s a classifier	10
1011	Message does not invoke an operation on the target	6

You can set the default values for any attribute via the Reference Model properties.

Validating Diagrams